#QueerRomanceClub June selection— Navigational Entanglements
I do like a novella (I resent paying upper-end novel prices for novellas, but that’s a different story), and I especially like Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya universe. I thought I’d been quite patchy at reading them but looking at the titles, I realise I’ve read almost all of them over time.
This one is typical of the rest — deep and very effective Viet-influenced world-building without wasting too many words explaining it, a plot that involves juniors in a strict hierarchical structure having to in some way rebel against their elders, with a low-key f/f romance woven through it. Nice to have an almost entirely female cast too. Was not sure why a navigation clan needed assassins, though, but it was taken at face value, so I guess the politics are just robust (as we go on to learn…but then, why the shock from the juniors then…)
De Bodard often has a f/f dynamic which is older/powerful/mysterious woman and younger, wide-eyed girl, so it was nice to have a relatively equal flaws-compliment-each-other relationship, and I liked the way mutual trust played into the finale.
But the downside of a novella is that there’s not always the full depth devoted to the relationship, so it all happens a bit fast. Also, I didn’t always follow why the characters were getting annoyed at each other eg we’d be told Nhi was being unpleasant but the dialogue just didn’t *sound* that unpleasant (this is likely just me being accustomed to sassy banter).
Annoyingly, and no fault of the author’s, Sư phụ (master) displayed as S ph on my Kobo ereader, and feel like if the publisher is charging that much, they could have afforded having a minion check that.
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